Back in the early 1640’s, there was a sizeable population of English, reformation-oriented Protestants who took great issue with the king of southern England, Charles I, and his Roman Catholic wife. Things went from bad to worse, civil war erupted, and the reformationists found themselves increasingly under military pressure from the royalists. Rather than face inevitable defeat, the reformationists sought help from the northern kingdom, the land of the Scots.
Now, for reasons going back over much history, the people in the north of England were never much in the way of friends with the people in the south. They tended to hate each other. Nonetheless, the two peoples figured that in King Charles they had a mutual enemy, so they attempted a rapprochement, and the basis of this reconciliation was to be their shared thoughts on religion. They decided to forge a joint statement of faith under which the two peoples could unite. The leaders gathered together the best and brightest minds in protestant theological circles, and in 1647, along with two other documents, the Westminster Larger Catechism was born. These documents are now considered amongst the most famous statements of faith ever written, and are still in use today.
The Catechism is written in the form of questions and answers, hundreds of them, with supporting Biblical references covering every facet of Christian theology. Here is how the Catechism begins, the very first question and answer:
Question #1: What is the chief and Highest end of man? Answer: Man’s chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy him forever.
Sound somewhat familiar?! Every time John Clark would ask us, “What is the meaning of life?” and we would answer back in unison, “To love God back!” I always got a little chuckle. Interesting how this simple but most amazing and wisdom -filled observation has travelled through the ages, even to our time and to our little corner here at North Eastwood Christian Church.
Friends, in times like this, especially in the spirit of Christmas, I think the very first step, the very first answer, is to remember to love God back. If the Brits and the Scots could unite on that simple truth, so can our little church on the east side of Indianapolis. If we love God back, we will be too busy caring for each other to engage in nonsense and discord. Unfortunately, at the moment, I think we would fall in with the Corinthians who were under Paul’s reproof. 1 Corinthians 1:11 reads, “My brothers, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. What I mean is this: One of you says, ‘I follow Paul;’ another, ‘I follow Apollos;’ another, ‘I follow Cephas;’ still another, ‘I follow Christ.’” To this Paul says, “Is Christ divided?” No! We are disciples of Jesus Christ only! “I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.” Unity of community was stressed in Paul’s writings throughout as a common theme.
Going back again in history, another reformationist Christian movement, born in the same time frame but under different persecutorial circumstances and different geography, was the Anabaptists. Today in the U.S. we know one of these groups as the Amish. Certain conservative Amish groups, such as the Old Order and Swartzentruber Amish, are famous for eschewing motorized transportation in favor of horsedrawn buggies. Ever wonder why? It is not because they think cars are inherently evil or that driving is a sin. No, the Amish consider the destruction of Christian community – entered into freely but with an oath of fidelity – to be sinful, and car ownership too enabling of mobility. To the Amish way of thinking, cars make it too easy to pack up and leave whenever the going gets tough. The Amish set up rules to govern their behavior with the intent of protecting the unity of that community at all cost. Very interesting!
Something else about the Amish. Above every other section in the Bible, they favor the Sermon on the Mount as embodying the essence of their Christian beliefs and ethics. Within the Sermon, they consider the sayings of our Lord on forgiveness paramount. Why? The Amish believe in a very literal, straightforward reading of the Bible, and Jesus says in the Sermon, “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” Unforgiving people, then, the way the Amish see it, can have no assurance of salvation. Very interesting!
Here is something else we find in the Sermon on forgiveness, this time relating to worship and reconciliation: “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the alter and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the alter. First go and be reconciled to your brother, then come and offer your gift.” In other words, it would seem God is not interested in our worship, at NECC or anywhere else we might go, if we have left division with our brothers and sisters un-reconciled. It is interesting again to look at Amish ‘church’ gatherings in this regard. Most Amish orders have annual or semi-annual ‘meetings’ where part of what is a special service that Sunday is taken up in various issues of governance. However, that same day is set aside more importantly as a day of reconciliation. Not a single element of worship or governance proceeds until the leaders are convinced that every single discord between members has been fully reconciled. Sometimes this reconciliation process takes hours – sometimes all day, or even several weekends. But nothing happens until the unity of community has been restored. Again, very interesting!
I am not suggesting that we all don beards and bonnets and become Amish. No list of rules will ever change hearts. Yet the rules of the Amish tell us the importance of deliberateness in changing our hearts. Horse and buggy, manual labor, electricity-free homes – these have the effect of increasing the deliberateness of Amish actions as they interact with each other. Wagging one’s tongue at a neighbor requires hitching up the team and clipping along at 10-15 miles per hour to get there first. One can’t wag their tongue on the keyboard in Facebook or email, either – no computers or electricity for that! But again, rules are not necessary to create this deliberateness. We are Christians. Our hearts of stone have been replaced. The very Spirit of God lives within us. We know how to behave and we have been enabled to do so! Yet we are not completed works of sanctification – we know that the vestiges of sin live within our members. We must exercise self discipline to be deliberate, and we must repent to our God and to one another when we fail. The words of Paul in Roman’s 7:14-25 cry loudly in our own hearts!
Here is one final thought. It seems we Christians are pretty good at stepping on each other from time to time. Perhaps you feel that has been done to you or to someone you know – perhaps even by others at NECC. Let’s accept for a moment that this has happened – let us take it as a given and speak hypothetically. Are you in the right to feel hurt? Of course – we are human beings and we were given feelings by our Creator. We get hurt by others and we feel that hurt and it hurts all the more when it is perpetrated by those who should know better and care more. Yet I am reminded of passage after passage in the New Testament of how, rather than giving up and throwing in the towel, we are to rejoice in our sufferings for Christ. It also brings to mind a brief, personal appeal by Paul at the front end of one of the most encouraging and most memorized passages in the New Testament:
“I plead with Eodia [insert my name] and I plead with Syntyche [insert your name] to agree with each other in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you, loyal yokefellow [fellow Christians of NECC], help these women [members] who have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life. Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all. The Lord is near.” (Philippians 4:2-5) As we come to the close of this article, you might be wondering about the title – what has all this to do with Christmas? The story of Christmas is the story of the Kingdom of God penetrating the veil of this world, delivering to mankind a baby, a Savior, the God-man who will reconcile the breach between God and man through sacrifice on the cross. The first commandment, our first response, is to love God back. The second is similar – to love each other. Merry Christmas!